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Forgo cars, study urges

Peterborough is ready for a transportation change, says the team behind a new report on the way people in the city move around.

The city's compact geography and the abundance of trails and bike lanes make it easier for people to forgo cars and try other ways to travel, said Brett Throop, a Trent University student who carried out the research for the Peterborough Social Planning Council.

"We need to see our streets as great public spaces, rather than as transportation corridors," Throop said Wednesday.

"Only if we plan now can we build a balanced transportation system for the future."

The report was a joint effort between the social planning council, the Trent Centre for Community-Based Education and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

"It's all about getting people to think differently," said Dawn Berry Merriam, the social planning council's research and policy analyst.

Much of the report focuses on the city's downtown.

"We need to make driving downtown less convenient and other forms of transportation more convenient," Throop said.

The report calls for a reduction in available long-term parking and higher parking rates in the city core. Doing so, Throop said, would encourage people to leave their cars at home and walk, cycle or take the bus to get downtown.

"As it is now, a bus pass costs as much as long-term parking," Throop said. "So there's no incentive."

Social planning council executive director Brenda Dales said such a plan would be something to discuss with the Downtown Business Improvement Area.

"We want to work with the DBIA to maximize accessibility," Dales said. "That's what they want and that's what we want."

DBIA officials could not be reached for comment.

"It all promotes being active," said Tyler Moon, community mission specialist with the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

"We have a lot of adults and children being inactive."

Throop said the report focused primarily on the city, but its findings can be applied to the county, as well; there is a need for public transit to the townships, Dales said, and that's something that can be explored in the future.

This was interesting to Kevin O'Brien and Jamie Campbell, who recently had to move into the city from Fowlers Corners because of transportation issues. With only one vehicle, they found themselves having to stockpile errands until they could get into the city.

"It's too far to walk, too far to bike," O'Brien said.

"We had no choice," added Campbell.

The report recommends improved winter sidewalk clearing, bus racks on bicycles, more bicycle lanes and more public awareness campaigns about cycling, aimed at both cyclists and drivers. It calls for the development of a cycling master plan, with community input.

"Putting bike racks on buses would link the different types of public transportation," said Trent Prof. Jim Struthers, who played a hand in the report.

"Peterborough is already an excellent city for cycling," Throop said. "We can make it the No. 1 cycling city in Ontario."

The report also encourages a new program to educate people who are ticketed for riding bicycles on the sidewalk; they could take an awareness course, rather than pay a fine.

"This is a perfect example of how the community and the university can come together," said Todd Barr, executive director of the Trent Centre for Community- Based Education.

Part of the plan calls for more street closures, particularly on Sundays and for special events.

"When you do that, people come and they come in abundance," Struthers said.

Dales said the plan will be presented to city and county councils after the Oct. 25 election, but it may also be presented to candidates as part of the council's planned all-candidates forum on poverty issues.

kgordon@peterboroughexaminer.com

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Examiner Online Poll

In yesterday's online poll we asked readers whether they think there should be more than two candidates in the city's mayoral race in the Oct. 25 election -- 55% said there should be more than two. Today we ask, Should the city take measures to make driving downtown less convenient and other environmentally friendly forms of transportation more convenient?